War at Home: The Neverending Struggle
by IantojJackh
Summary: A Wraith attack has left Atlantis and her crew broken. How can they put the  pieces of their lives back together with family ripped apart by time, space,  and distance? Jen/Evan est.
1. Chapter 1

**War at Home: The Struggle Continues**

**Chapter 1: Bad Day for Some...Looking Bright for Others**

"Are you sure you are okay with this?" Jennifer sighed as she spoke into the radio. She was nervous about her parents wanting to see their granddaughter. It would not be a big deal if she was on Earth with Evan, but with Stephanie staying with Rodney there were questions she knew her parents would have. The hardest to explain would be Chrissy's resemblance to her. Jennifer knew her mother would question the similarity and she knew Rodney would not tell the truth of where he and his daughter came from. But she wondered what kind of memories it would stir up for him and the emotions it would bring with it.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Rodney's voice faltered only a little. He knew how to deal with her father from his own experience, but her mother was new territory.

"Your voice," she pointed out. Jennifer never met the Rodney that was originally from her universe as he disappeared right after Carson's funeral, never to be heard from again. From the stories she heard, the physician did not think she would have liked that man, but the one that she knew was very different from the stories. It bothered her that some people still held the original's actions against this Rodney. "You dealt…"

"Not exactly," Rodney cut her off. "I never had a mother-in-law. So this is new territory for me."

"If you can't handle it I can tell them not to come. I can reschedule when Evan or I could be there," she knew it would be a long time before her husband would well enough to make a trip to Earth.

The scientist frowned, "Don't worry. I can handle this. No talk of alternate universes. Chrissy and I will be fine. There is no need for you and Evan to worry. If any problems come up I'll let you know."

"Mommy, why do Poppy and Nana want to see me? They aren't going to make me go with them are they? I love staying with Chrissy and Uncle Rodney," Steph pouted as she spoke to her mother.

"No Sweetie, they just want to see you. They haven't seen you since you were a baby and this is the first time you are close enough for them to visit," Jennifer explained. "They miss you, Steph."

The child let out an annoyed sigh, "When are they coming?" Steph crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.

Jennifer knew exactly what her daughter was doing, "Uncross those arms, young lady. They will be there tomorrow afternoon."

"But we were supposed to go to Cave of the Winds on Thursday. Can I still go?" her mind was very set on the trip.

"If they want to go then yes. You can go to the cave anytime, but your grandparents are only here for a few days," Jennifer said in a firm but soft voice.

"Fine," Stephanie said with a dramatic sigh. "I'm done," she dropped the radio and stomped over to the next room where Chrissy was reading a book. Even though she missed her parents, Steph liked that it was easy to drop the radio and walk away when they annoyed her.

"I know. No desert for her tonight and put to bed early," Rodney said with a sigh. "Chrissy and I won't go to the cave without her. Don't worry, Jen everything will be okay. This visit will go smoothly."_ I hope._

"I hope you are right. If you need help don't hesitate to check in," Jennifer hoped all would go well. There was so much that could go wrong and it tied her stomach in knots to think about it.

"Seriously what can go wrong? Wait don't answer that..."

"Just don't let my mother get to you. I know she is going to ask about Chrissy," It was Rodney's daughter that Jennifer was most scared about. She had a strong gut feeling that her mother would not give up on the strong resemblance between her and the child when Jennifer was the Chrissy's age. The mother knew her parents would never understand the concept of alternate universes (security clearance not withstanding) and would find the idea what Rodney was married to her from another universe and Chrissy was a product of that union bizarre.

"And all she needs to know is that I'm a widower raising my daughter by myself. The rest is none of their business. I know our situation has always been odd, but it works for us," Rodney shrugged. He never had a problem distinguishing this Jennifer from his. It was difficult in the beginning as the loss of his wife was still a raw wound, but now they were good friends. One day he might tell Chrissy the truth of where they came from, but the five year old was too young to comprehend the complexity of everything.

"And one last thing. Don't be mad, but when I told them who was watching Steph, I used your real name. They are old-fashioned and I knew it would not sit well with them that a single man was watching my daughter," Jennifer was not sure the reaction that she would receive and she braced herself for the worst.

"You've got to be kidding," came in a long whine. "So you left to me to explain. That is really messed up. Was telling them the truth so hard?" Rodney stood in the same pose Stephanie had been in moments before.

Jennifer heard the anger in his voice, "I'm sorry. I know they would think of all these worst case scenarios if they knew you were a man."

"You could have given me a bit more heads up. Am I going to have to deal with them freaking out, thinking I am some kind of pedophile that lives with lives with two young girls? Sounds bad when you say it aloud, doesn't it?" He was not letting the anger go. "It's bad enough that I get odd looks when I buy Chrissy clothes. Why is the concept of a single father raising his **daughter **so hard for some people to grasp? Your parents included."

Jennifer pursed her lips, angry that he was taking his foul mood out on her, but she was the one who caused it. "I know you are not some sicko."

Rodney wanted to take a page from Steph's book, "I'm done." He threw his hands up and sighed.

"I said I was sorry," she did know what else to say. It was clear that other issues were at hand and this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

"I'm just tired of the assumptions people make and you lying to your parents just fuels that. Like raising Chrissy alone is something I want to be doing?" Rodney raised his voice so that it got the attention of the two girls playing twenty feet away. The look on his daughter's face broke his heart, knowing he had worded his last line wrong. "Just forget it," he slammed the radio down and turned to his daughter who looked like she was about to cry.

"You don't want me, Daddy?" Chrissy lip quivered and tears welled up in her eyes. No child ever wants to hear their father does not want them.

The father sighed as he knelt in front of the upset child despite the intense pain in his left knee that he had surgery on six months ago, "Chrissy, baby girl. I didn't mean it like that." Rodney put his hands on Chrissy's shoulders. "I wouldn't trade you for anything. You are one of the best things that ever happened to me. I meant that I never expected it to be just me and you. I thought your mom would always be around."

"But it isn't just us. We have Steph living with us too," she said with an innocence only a child could have.

"I know that, but when her dad gets a little better it will be just us again. Besides I'm not too good at this girly stuff. I only wish we still had your mom around. I really miss her," Rodney hugged his daughter tightly.

"You do a pretty good job, My Bestest Daddy. I wouldn't trade you for anything either," Chrissy put her arms around her father the best she could.

"Bestest?" Rodney asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? I'm the only one you have."

Chrissy smirked impishly, "I mean the Bestest Daddy in the whole universe."

"Hmm. I'm not sure I'm really that convinced," Rodney looked over at Stephanie. "What do you say, Steph? A little tickle punishment is order?"

The other girl nodded and laughed. "Yes."

"Not fair," Chrissy whined in typical McKay fashion.

* * *

Jennifer tossed her radio aside, knowing she should never have lied to her parents about Rodney's name. She was thinking about returning to Earth to help Rodney with her parents. She needed to discuss it with Evan first. "Hey you," the torn woman sat next to her husband and took his hand. Even though the man was getting better every day, it was still a slow process.

"What's wrong?" Evan knew his wife well enough to see she was putting on a fake brave act and he knew she had just got done talking to their daughter which meant Jennifer also talked to Rodney and Chrissy. "Did something happen with Rodney?"

"I royally pissed him off," Jennifer let her face fall. "I kind of lied to my parents when I told them our friend Meredith was watching Steph while you recovered.

The man had to laugh, "That would do it. One time I called the Rodney you never met, Meredith and he dropped the temperature of my quarters to below freezing." It was a sore point with every McKay he met.

"And Steph doesn't want her grandparents visit to ruin her plans for Cave of the Winds," the mother shook her head. "It was not a good call all around."

Evan squeezed Jen's hand tightly, "How about I cheer you up?"

"How are you going to do that?" There was not much that could put Jennifer in a better mood at this point.

"This," Evan threw the covers aside and carefully slid out of the infirmary bed and stood for a minute before falling back on the bed. "Little surprise I've been working on under your nose," he said coyly.

The simple act of standing bought Jennifer to tears as it this was the first time since the attack that she had seen Evan stand. "That cheered me up," she wiped away the tears of joy.

"Now it will be no time before I can walk and run around with Steph," he reached up to brush the tears from his wife's delicate cheeks.

Jennifer encased Evan's hand with hers and drew it to her lips, "No time at all." This wasn't going to be a bad day after all.

"That's not how you do it," Evan pull his wife to him to show her how kissing your spouse was supposed to go.

* * *

**To be continued...**

A/ N: This is a continuation of the my response to Penelope the Perky Penguin's song fic challenge a couple months back. After some of the comments, I could not put this story to rest and this was born. All questions posted from the original will eventually be answered. And a big thanks to Shadows-of-Realm for the beta.


	2. Goodbye and Hello

**A/N: I did not forget about this story. Just got lost for a while. Thanks to Ladygris for the beta and brainstorming help on this chapter. Thanks to all those who have reviewed and did various adds. **

* * *

**Chapter 2- Goodbye and Hello**

Jennifer felt a hand on the back of her neck. She moaned as the gentle massage felt good, but sighed as it drew her away from a restful sleep. Her eyes slowly opened to the harsh lights of the infirmary, but the first thing her eyes focused on was the smiling face of her husband. "Hey," she mumbled sleepily and arched her back to loosen the tight back muscles.

"What did I say about you sleeping here?" Evan smiled but was stern with his wife. The reason for him not wanting his wife to stay was twofold; he knew it was uncomfortable for her but also he needed the quiet of the night to be alone. He knew he had to put on the strong face of a leader, a role thrust upon him when the Wraith attack took Woolsey and Sheppard as two of the forty victims. There were times he just wanted to yell at the situation he found himself in. His life was in pieces; many friends had died, he had been mostly confined to bed and he had not seen his daughter in months and only getting to talk to her occasionally made him miss her more. The time he was alone was the only time he could let his strong facade down. Where he could scream and curse the turn his life had taken. He could see the suffering on his wife's face and he hated to be a burden. Jennifer's commitment to her patients suffered as her attention was clearly divided.

"I know. It's hard to go back to that empty room. It's just not the same without you and Steph," Jennifer frowned. Even though the threat of the Wraith was long gone, the state of the city as they rebuilt was no place for a five year old.

"Babe, this still isn't good for you. You need to rest more. I can see it's starting to negatively effect your work. I'm going to be fine now. Everyone needs you more than I do. The constant hovering is a little much," Evan knew it sounded harsher than he wanted but he needed to get his point across. "I can make it an order if want me to." He never wanted to pull rank when it came to his wife. Every leader had to make hard choices sometimes and Evan chose to anger Jennifer.

"An order?" His words clearly hit a nerve. "I'm just worried about you. How can you say that?"_ I'm not hovering._ It hurt that Evan's tone said she annoyed him. During their seven years of marriage, he never once talked to her like that. "It's not affecting my work," her body language went on the defensive.

"Yes, you are and yes it is," he said through clenched teeth. "Lest you forget this bed has been my home for months. I've seen you make mistakes you wouldn't normally make. I think it might be best if I leave."

"Excuse me? Leave?" Jennifer was stunned by her husband's suggestion. "Why would you do that?" Tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

"To get better. To spend time with Steph. My being here is not good for either of us. I will heal faster if I'm on Earth and you will be able concentrate on what you need to here without having me around all the time. Besides Rodney could probably use the help dealing with your parents, with your mom in particular." Evan knew it was difficult to deal with his mother-in-law at times and it really would not be fair to Rodney to make him deal with the woman on her own.

"You've already talked to Rodney about this?" The visibly angry woman clenched her fists, as it seemed plans were already made and Evan was ready to be transferred.

"No, but something tells me he will welcome the help. In addition, it would be good for Steph to have one of us around. We know the only reason I've not been released from here is because the city is not really that accessible for me and Rodney has a pretty big house. I'm not leaving you. I'm doing what's best for us as a family." Those were hard words to say, but they were ones that needed to be said. Words that were long overdue. Evan had been mobile using crutches but it was not practical way of getting around for long periods.

"So, I've got no say in this? Your decision is final?" Jennifer was biting her tongue to stop herself from saying what she thought was behind this. _He needs a break from me. I've been smothering him too much._

Evan sucked on his lower lip, trying to avoid the inevitable fight. "Final decision. I'm not making quick enough progress here," his tone was short and to the point.

"Fine," Jennifer held her head high and refused to let him see then tears that were in her eyes. "I'll come by to say goodbye when you are ready to leave." It took all her self-control not to give Evan a piece of her mind. The middle of the infirmary was not the time or place to have it out and the angry woman left the infirmary with an annoyed huff.

A string a mental curse rattled off in his head as the news had gone off worse than he anticipated. "Amelia, can you please contact the SGC and tell Dr. McKay I need to speak with him?"

* * *

Rodney peered over the top of the couch and scanned the room for giggling demons. He knew exactly where the two girls were hiding, but he pretended not to know. "Guess I will have to eat all these cookies by myself," he knew that would force Chrissy and Steph to come out of hiding. After ten seconds who no response other than a muffled laugh, Rodney put the plate on his lap, "Yes, all mine."

He had put the second sugar cookie in his mouth when the doorbell rang. Rodney placed the plate on the table and headed toward the door.

"Cookies," Chrissy ran toward the cookies with Steph following close behind. She did not make it far when she was scooped up by her father and held upside down. "No fair, Daddy," she squirmed and pouted as Stephanie reached the cookies.

"I'm always fair," Rodney's reminded his daughter as he answered the door. He immediately recognized this universe's version of his father-in-law and the woman from the pictures he had seen from his wife's childhood. For the first time since he came here, Rodney wondered what Reginald Keller was told about what happened to his daughter and her family. Was he told that he and Chrissy were missing or dead? He swallowed the hard lump in the back of his throat, "You're early." He croaked after a long moment of silence.

Stella Keller looked at the man who answered the door, holding a child that was the spitting image of her daughter when she was that age. "We caught an earlier flight," the woman started to scowl at the way a stranger was handling her granddaughter. It had been two years since she had seen her daughter or her family and felt that this child could be no one else. "What do you think you are doing to her?" there was great distain and disgust in Stella's voice.

"Daddy, can you put me down now?" Chrissy squirmed and giggled, trying to get her father to put her down.

"Excuse me?" Rodney looked at the obvious bottle blonde as if she had a billion heads. The woman had no right to question him on his interaction with his child. "Sorry, Baby Girl," he turned Chrissy right side up and put her on the ground.

The child immediately clung to her father's arm, refusing to let go. There was something about the woman that made Chrissy very frightened, but the man next to her seemed harmless enough even if he had yet to speak.

_Daddy? _Stella saw red and felt her husband squeeze her hand to keep her from saying more. She was curious what kind of people Jennifer left her daughter with.

"Stephanie is inside," Rodney nodded toward the living room where the other girl was eating cookies and drinking milk. "I'm Dr. Rodney McKay and this is my daughter, Christina," He knew the questions that were coming about Chrissy looking like Jennifer and how the girl got her name, after a childhood friend of Jennifer's who died in a car accident when the girls were fourteen. The same accident that took the Stella Keller in his universe.

"I'm Reginald Keller and this is my wife Stella," the man offered a friendly hand. Knowing his wife the way he did, he knew Stella saw the similarities between the girl before them and their daughter. Reginald also noticed how uncomfortable Rodney was. "I want to thank you and your wife for watching Stephanie while my daughter and husband are away." He assumed the Meredith his daughter mentioned had to be the man's wife as he saw the wedding band on the other man's hand.

Rodney looked between the couple and the ground, realizing this was a lot harder than he had anticipated. "Actually it's just me. My wife died a few years ago."

Reginald looked confused and felt his wife's nails dig into his hand, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Oh, but Jen said someone named Meredith was watching Stephanie."

"Daddy's real name is Meredith," the child gave her father a smug smirk as if pay back for calling her Christina. Her middle name was the same as the scary woman, but she kept quiet about that. Had the older woman not been so frightful she might have shared that information.

"Thank you for clearing that up, Chrissy," Rodney ruffled the child's hair. "Please come in, Steph has been waiting for your arrival."

Stella glared at her husband and whispered, "What is Jen thinking leaving her daughter with a single man?" The whole situation did not sit right with the woman. The other child had too much a resemblance to Jennifer to not question. She never believed in the saying that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world unless there was some kind of genetic influence.

"He does have his own daughter," Reginald pointed out, but he too felt there was not something right with the situation. "She does look so much like Jenny. It's not like Christina is such an uncommon name." Stella looked back at the girl who was still clinging to her father as if her life depended on it.

"I've not been waiting," Steph crossed her arms over her chest. Her grandparents were virtual strangers to her. The number of times she saw them could be counted on one hand. She only really knew them through cards, letters, and occasionally talking to them. "We aren't going today, are we?"

"Sorry, Steph. Not today," Rodney eyed the girl as to tell her to behave and play nice with her grandparents.

The child stomped her foot and tried to hide the scowl. "Fine Uncle Rodney," Steph knew if she were too much of a brat her uncle would go back to her parents.

Stella looked at the dark haired child that was not happy to see them. There were only hints of their daughter in Stephanie. "You've grown so much since I've last seen you," she carefully approached the child to give her a hug.

"It's been almost two years since you last saw me. Did you expect me not to grow?" The months of living with Rodney caused the man's sarcasm to rub off on the child. Steph allowed herself to be hugged by the woman who smelt like oranges. "We are not allowed oranges here. It's a rule of the house. If you have them you have to throw them out."

"Such a precocious child," the grandmother laughed off the child's behavior. "Of course I expected you to grow. Just not this much." Stella could not resist pinching her granddaughter's cheeks. "What kind of rule is that?" The woman thought it was an odd rule to banish the fruit.

"Uncle Rodney and Chrissy are allergic to citrus and they can die from it," Steph whined as she rubbed her cheeks. "That hurt. You aren't going to pinch my cheeks too?" the child looked at her grandfather.

"No, Stephanie," Reginald shook his head. It did not seem right that neither is daughter or son-in-law came home for a visit while they were in town. He learned years ago not to ask many questions about the kind of work they were involved it. "How long have you been living here?"

"A couple months. I told Mommy that if she was sending me away that I wanted to stay with Chrissy and Uncle Rodney said it was okay. I hadn't seen her in a long time since they moved away to here," Steph explained as she held her hand out to her grandfather. She was not comfortable enough with her grandparents to offer the man a hug.

Rodney could tell how uncomfortable Stephanie was and he hated to leave her alone, but he was about to make the child's day. "Chrissy and I have an errand to run and will be back in about an hour." The father had originally planned to leave Chrissy with the Kellers but he did not want them to ask too many questions.

"Can't I come with you?" Steph almost said in a pleading tone. She tried to get a few tears to fall for dramatic effect.

"You should stay with your grandparents. They have come a long way to see you. We won't be too long. If you need me for anything my cell number is programmed into the phone," he explained, reaching for his car keys.

Steph pouted only as a six year old could, "Fine." She turned from her uncle, unsure of what do with the old people while alone with them.

An hour and half passed and Rodney and Chrissy were not back and it made Stephanie mad. She thought they were having fun here while Stella and Reginald asked her about her life.

The child tilted her head at Stella and her persistent questions, "Chrissy looks Mommy when she was Chrissy's age?"

"Yes," Stella pulled out an old photo and showed it. "Have you ever me Chrissy's mother?" she knew something was fishy and needed to get to the bottom of it.

"No. Chrissy doesn't have a Mommy. It only Uncle Rodney and her. I don't want to answer any more questions. It's boring. Did you bring me any gifts?" Steph thought it was the least they could do make up for all the questions.

"Stephanie Elizabeth Lorne..." the stern voice came from the open door.

"DADDY," the girl ran as fast as she could toward the door, her smile lighting up the whole room.


	3. House of Chaos

**A/N: Thank you so much for the adds and comments to this story. Hope you are all still enjoying it. Special thanks to Ladygris and Shadows-of-Realm for their beta and brainstorming assistance on this chapter. It is all much appreciated. **

* * *

**Chapter 3- House of Chaos**

Evan had to brace himself against the wall as his little girl launched herself into his arms. It was a struggle to stay upright, but being able to hug his daughter was the best thing he felt in a long time. His heart swelled a million times larger and a few tears escaped his eyes.

"I missed you lots Daddy," Stephanie did not want to let her father go and she did not notice his struggling. "Is Mommy coming too?"

The father was reaching his limits of how much standing he could do with the crutches. Yet, he did not want to seem weak in front of his child, "She had to stay behind, but she sends all her love. Let's sit on the couch." Evan tried to steer his daughter toward the couch. The goodbye with Jennifer had been tense, neither wanting to make the first apology for the fight and both refusing to admit the other was right in their own ways.

Rodney kept his hands on Chrissy's shoulders, refusing to look at the Kellers. "I don't know if it will help, but I have a walker from my knee surgery. It might be easier than the crutches."

"Thanks, Rodney. I'll give that it a try," Lorne accepted the offer. ". I came home so I can get better and so I could see you." Evan carefully lowered himself to the couch, his legs giving out from under him just before he sat. A tiny frustrated sigh escaped as his composure slipped for a moment, wanting to hide the extent of his injures.

McKay nodded and whispered something to Chrissy and the two vanished upstairs.

Stella's lip curled up the minute Rodney and Chrissy were out of sight, "What on Earth were you and Jen thinking leaving your daughter with a single man? He's single right? I heard that right when he said it?"

Evan nodded and shook his head, letting the woman rant. He knew he would not get a word in edge wise if he tried. This was not a conversation to have in front of Steph, and he thought Stella would have better sense than that. "Well, hello to you, too, Stella," he drawled. "What's the big deal? Rodney's wife died three years ago. Jen and I did what we felt was best for Steph."

"I wanted to stay with Chrissy, Granny," Steph frowned at the loud older woman.

"You let a five year old dictate where she wanted to go?" Stella turned to her granddaughter who refused to let go of her father, "Stephanie, darling, why don't you us some time to talk."

There was something about the woman's tone that made the child uncomfortable. "But Daddy just got here. I don't want to leave." Stephanie tightened her grasp on her father, tears threatening to fall.

"It will only be a few minutes and then you can have me for the rest of the day," Evan kissed the top of Steph's dark mane. "Don't worry I'm not going anywhere," he hoped his words reassured the girl that he was here to stay.

"Only because you said so, Daddy," Steph replied. She kissed her father's cheek and headed for the stairs. She did not go to Chrissy's room but stayed at the top of the stairs out of sight so she would not miss any of the conversation.

Evan was on the verge of losing his temper, but his many years of military training let him keep a level head. "In this instance yes, we let Stephanie stay where she wanted. Besides Rodney is in a unique position to understand and deal with why we sent Steph back stateside."

"That is what family is for," Stella's face flushed with anger. "If your child couldn't be with you, she should be sent to stay with family and not someone who she only calls _Uncle_."

The injured man hated that he was about to repeat himself, "We did what was best for Steph. Should she have stayed with you, who she hardly knows or with someone she knows who also happens to be her best friend's father? Here Jennifer and I have been able to talk with her several times a week and with you she could not."

Reginald could see both sides of the conflict and chose to remain silent as the two hashed out the problems.

"It's not our fault we never see our granddaughter. How come you and Jen never bring Steph home for a visit? Are you purposely keeping them away from us?" Stella was never truly happy that her daughter married a military man and the situation now was a prime example.

"What?" Evan asked with confusion. "I would never do that. How can you even ask that?" He was offended that his mother-in-law asked the question. "With our jobs there is not a lot of opportunity to come home. We would visit more often if we could."

Stella clearly was not going to let Evan off easily, "Where exactly is it you are stationed? That's right you can't tell me because it is classified. The military and their _top secret_ projects."

"It's not only a military base were we are. In fact there are more civilians than military personnel." Evan knew reasoning with her was like reasoning with a two year old that missed naptime.

"You or Jen could have let us know sooner that Steph was where we could have visited her and not a couple months after the fact. Family is family. And family should always be together in hard times. What is so important about your job that you had to abandon your daughter? Does it have to with your injuries and why you can hardly walk? What do you really know about this Rodney person? How do you know his wife is really dead? What if he is some sick pervert who likes little girls and you left your daughter for months and who knows what he could have done to her," Stella did not hold back any thing as she turned off the self-control feature on her mouth.

Reginald knew his wife crossed a line with her last line of questioning. "Stella! Take it easy with the questions. The man just got home to recover. I think our daughter has enough sense to know what kind of person she entrusted her child with for months."

"Uncle Rodney never hurt me," Steph had heard enough and she needed to put a stop to this. "Why don't you like Uncle Rodney and why are you being mean to Daddy you Witch?" the child yelled at the top of her voice. Even thought she had been taught to respect her elders, Stephanie did not want to stand for anyone badmouthing her Uncle and especially her father. "Maybe you are the pervert?" the child had no idea what the word meant, but the way Stella had used it; it could not have been good.

Evan beckoned his offspring toward him, "Come sit next to me Cupcake." his eyes narrowed at Stella. He did not like being accused of abandoning his child, but he was bound by the confidentiality agreement and the Kellers could not know the full extent of what happened. "This is not the time to be having this conversation," he let his voice rise ever so slightly. "Jen and I trust Rodney. Just because you are not happy with the choice we made doesn't give you the right to make accusations you did." He thought the woman was very lucky that Stephanie was there or he might have uncharacteristically lost his temper. The woman had hit some very sensitive nerves then coupled between the fight he had with Jennifer and the frustration over his slow recovery, Evan was quickly approaching a breaking point.

Stella was blind to everyone trying to reason with her as the whole situation had her seeing red. She would never admit to anyone, even to her husband that there was some jealously over the couple's choice to have Stephanie watched by someone who was not family. "You did not answer my question," the indignation was clear in her words.

"I don't like you," Steph piped up, her hands on her hips. "I'm glad Mommy and Daddy let me stay here. Are you always this mean?"

Evan knew he should scold his daughter for her attitude, but in a way, Stephanie had a point. "Stella, we will pick this up later. I would like to spend time with my daughter who I haven't seen in months.

Reginald saw his wife about ready to have a meltdown, "Come on, Stella let's go for a little walk." Everyone needed their space before things were said that could not be taken back.

_That would be wise. _Evan thought to other woman ever infuriated him more than this woman did. His mother-in-law had her good moments, but when she was bad, she was oh-so bad.

Stella huffed and rolled her eyes, "Fine." The conversation was far from over and by the end of the day, she would let her son-in-law have it. The fact that her daughter married a man in the military never sat right with her, forcing herself to put on a happy face. The whole situation just proved that her fears were justified. She would never show how much Stephanie's words stung. Stella did not see herself as mean, but concerned for her family's wellbeing.

"Daddy, want to see my room upstairs?" Stephanie was very excited to have her father under her spell once more.

Evan sucked in his lower lip, not wanting to deny his daughter's request but the two small steps to get into the house almost did him in. There was no way he was going to make the dozen steps to the second floor. "I can't Steph. I'm sorry, but my legs won't let me make it up the stairs."

"Can I kiss them to make them better? Will that work?" the young girl looked hopeful at her father.

The father closed his eyes as he felt his heart breaking over Stephanie's innocence. "Sorry, Cupcake. It doesn't work that way." Evan kissed the top of the child's head so she could not see the tears in his eyes.

"See that is what I've been talking about all these years. A military base is not place to raise a child. He's here and can't even be a proper father to his child," Stella steamed as she looked at her husband, standing on the porch of the house. She waited to start the rant until the door was closed and Evan could not hear her.

"Stell, you have to take it easy," Reginald knew his wife was ruled by her emotions and it caused a number of problems. He sighed as he saw the owner of the house with his daughter building something at the other end of the porch.

"Actually, it's a civilian run operation with a large emphasis on scientific and medical research that has a military contingent," Rodney looked up from the experiment he and Chrissy were working on.

"What makes you an expert?" Stella replied with a snide sinister look on her face. She knew there was something off about Rodney and his daughter's resemblance to Jennifer. Chrissy even had a similar birthmark on her neck.

Rodney responded in true McKay fashion, "I only headed up the science and research departments since the beginning until six months ago when I came home for knee surgery." there was no reason he could not include the time spent in his universe.

The comment took the wind out of Stella's sails. She should have known that he knew Jennifer and Evan through work. "Has anyone told you that your daughter looks exactly like Jennifer did at that age?" the woman was back on the defensive.

Rodney clenched his jaw, wanting to avoid this topic at all costs. "Someone might have mentioned it," It killed him to ignore the similarity between Chrissy and her mother. He wanted nothing more than to be able to say the girl took after her mother.

"You didn't have an affair with my daughter did you?" Stella stuck her foot in her mouth big time.


	4. Of Daddies and Daughters

**A/N: Hope you are all still enjoying this story. My muse ran away temporarily but it's back now. Thank you to ladygris and shadows-of-realm for beta and brainstorming assistance and to Crye 4 Me for the brainstorming. **

**Chapter 4- Of Daddies and Daughters**

* * *

"Excuse me?" Rodney's voice rose several octaves, not believing the woman had the audacity to ask the question. "I have never been unfaithful to my wife. What gives you the right to ask that?" He was enraged at the out of place question that had a grain of truth, biologically speaking. It was not the daughter that his vile excuse for a human knew that who was the mother of his daughter, but one from a different universe. A Jennifer whose mother died when she was a teenager. "Seriously? Who do you think you are to come into my house and spew your venom? You remind me of my own mother who died as a bitter lonely shriveled up old hag. You are fast on the track to becoming that if you keep this attitude up! I don't understand how he has put up with you all these years. I would have tossed you out on your ass years ago." No one would ever accuse him of cheating on his wife and get away with it. He had heard the tales of Stella from Evan and Jennifer but he always kept mum that he never met the woman in his universe. Rodney also heard the way she reamed into Evan and this was a woman who was overdue to be put into her place.

Stella was stunned by the outburst. "Excuse me?" She puffed out her cheeks in indignation. No one had ever spoken to her in such a manner before.

"You heard me," Rodney snapped right back. "What did you expect me to say when you insinuated I had cheated on my wife? My _deceased_ wife! I did not even meet your daughter until after my wife died." When he had first come to this universe he had tried to avoid Jennifer at all costs after he broke down in her arms his first few hours.

"You have some nerve," Stella huffed with great annoyance.

"Look who's talking. You know me a whole three hours and you are tossing around these accusations. Does all this have to with Evan and Jennifer asking me to look after Stephanie? If so that is pretty petty and you should get over it!" Rodney talked down to the woman as he would talk to anyone who was acting completely stupid. The proud scientist smirked as he saw how flustered Stella got. It was as if no one had the backbone to standup to this woman before and he was the first to put her into place.

"You shouldn't talk that way in front of your daughter," Stella gripped her husband's hand tightly as she silently fumed.

"Now you are going to tell me what I should say in front of my own child? Chrissy should learn early how do deal with bullies and how to put idiots into their place," Rodney looked up with a dramatic eye roll. "Reg, I don't know how you do it, but I give you major credit for living with the Wicked Witch of the Midwest. There is plenty of beer in the fridge. I got your favorite." At least what was his father-in-law's favorite.

"You are not being nice to my Daddy. You weren't nice to Steph's Daddy either. Do you know how to be nice?" Chrissy glared at Stella. She then turned to her father, "Does having the name Stella make you a bad person? If so, I don't want it anymore."

"Thank you," Reginald nodded. He was not pleased with the other adults in his presence. Both were out of line with the way they talked to each other. Something the child said struck a nerve. "Part of your name is Stella?"

Chrissy sighed and pouted, "It's my middle name. Does that make me mean like her?" the child looked in terror at the blonde woman.

"Christina," Rodney warned his daughter. He did not want either of them to say something they would regret.

"Do you really think I'm mean?" Stella asked. Kids could be brutally honest and she wanted to hear what the girl had to say.

"The worst. I heard you yelling at Uncle Evan and then you were mean to Daddy. Why did you ask if Daddy had an affair with Aunt Jennifer? I don't know what those words mean but it can't be nice because you made Daddy really mad. Does it matter that I look like Aunt Jen when she was my age? I don't see what the big deal is. You should be nice to family. It would be sad if you had no family left. Daddy and I are the only family we have. I wish I had a Mommy like Steph does. She died when I was really little and don't remember her. No one messes with my family. Aunt Jen, Uncle Evan and Steph are family, but not blood family, so you can't mess with them either or you will live to regret crossing me," Chrissy ranted like a true McKay. She did not truly understand what her words meant, but she had heard her father use them enough times to know they were not good.

Stella was flabbergasted at the mouth on the child. The truth hurt and she did not let anyone, even her husband see. She detested Rodney for the way he talked to her and the way he let his devil spawn talk to her. "Reginald, I want to go for a walk," the stuck up woman held a stiff upper lip. She failed to comprehend why no one else saw how troubling the situation was. Stella would get to the bottom of all the secrets that were being kept by the end of the trip if it was the last thing she did.

Reginald did not expect this visit to turn out to be such a disaster in the few short hours they were already here. He knew if he did not speak up for Stella there would be hell to pay later, even if she was in the wrong. "It's not right for you to let your child talk like that."

"In all fairness your, wife asked a question and Chrissy answered it. Which is worse, lying or letting her speak her mind?" Rodney knew Chrissy crossed a line with what she said, but he was not going to give the Kellers the satisfaction of him yelling at his daughter. "Do want to get ice cream at Cold Stone?" He needed to get away from the toxic woman and to have a conversation with his daughter out of earshot of Reginald and Stella.

Chrissy's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the promise of the frozen treat.

* * *

Forty minutes the father and daughter were sitting outside of the ice cream establishment, enjoying their treats.

"Daddy has Aunt Jen's mom always been like that?" the child asked timidly. She was still waiting for the scolding the child expected.

Rodney smirked to himself because he knew if Stella was alive in his universe there has a good chance that they would have killed each other by now. Then again, there was a good chance he might not have married Jennifer and she would be alive now, but he would never have received the most precious gift of his child. "I don't know. Jennifer never talked about her mum before. You know it was wrong to talk to Stella the way you did."

"But, Daddyyyyyyyyyyyyyy," Chrissy whined. "What about all the mean stuff she said?"

"That's not the point, Christina. You don't want to become like her, do you?" the father pointed out.

That put some fear into the child and she shook her head violently. "What did Mommy look like? Why don't you have any pictures of her?"

"Where did those questions come from?" Rodney had always been careful not to reveal much about his wife for his own wellbeing and not to confuse Chrissy.

"Dunno," Chrissy shrugged her shoulders. "I want to know what she was like. Because Stella said I looked like Aunt Jen and I don't look a lot like you."

"She was the most beautiful person I ever knew and she loved you very much. I didn't have time to take pictures before we escaped. Getting you to safety was all that mattered. One day maybe I can somehow find a picture and show you," Rodney replied. _More like when you are old enough to understand inter-dimensional travel. _"Anything else you want to know?"

"How long were you and Mommy married? You did get married because Mommy had me? That's why Lenny parents got married."

The joys of having a precocious child. "No. We would have been married eight years if she were alive. Since you are six, do you think you can do the math?" Rodney plucked a gummy bear from Chrissy's ice cream cup.

The answer satisfied the child's curiosity, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"One sister, but as long as we are here I can't talk to her. Too far away," Rodney anticipated that Chrissy would have followed up.

"Meredith?" A soft woman's voice from behind Rodney made him almost jump out if his seat.

* * *

"Why won't it work?" Stephanie looked at her father confused. "What happened to your legs?"

"They got hurt real bad and they are taking a long time to work normal," Evan tried to explain the best way a child could understand.

"Like how Mommy fixed Uncle Rodney's knee before he and Chrissy moved away?" the child tried understand. She wondered if it took her uncle this long to heal.

The father put on a strong smile as he wished arthroscopic knee surgery could have fixed him. His problems were far more severe than a tear to a ligament. The multiple surgeries to fix the bones in his legs and the muscle atrophy as he healed made for along recovery where he was now only able to take a few steps unassisted. "Not exactly, pumpkin. What happened to me is going to take a lot longer to heal."

"Sorry, Daddy," Steph took her father's hand and squeezed. "I want to help you. What can I do? What do you need?"

"Having you here is enough, Steph. Thank you though," Evan smiled at his daughter. The father pulled his child close to him and held on tight. The sweet innocence of his child made butterflies flutter in his stomach.

"Is Mommy coming soon? When can I see her?" The child missed her mother more now that she had her daddy back.

"I don't think so. She is busy with work and she can't make it here, but she asked me to send her love and that she will talk to you tomorrow." Evan hated being the bearer of bad news where his daughter was concerned.

Steph sighed heavily, "Does she really love me, Daddy? Why does she have to stay there? Am I going to have no Mommy like Chrissy?" The child was full of questions.

"Whoa, Steph take it easy," Evan did not know where to begin with all the questions. "Of course your mom loves you. She can't get away from work and it's not safe for you to be there. Your mom is not going anywhere. Chrissy's mom is in heaven." Even being currently mad at his wife, Evan could not imagine his life without her.

"Does she know how mean her mommy is? I don't like Old Granny." It was time that Stephanie started to act like a brat.

"Stephanie, that is not nice. She is still your grandma. You have to be nice to her." He knew his daughter had a point but a child still need to respect their elders.

"Like she was nice to you and Uncle Rodney?" Steph was not going to let that go. "Why should I have to be nice if she isn't nice? She reminds me of Cruella Devil and she kind of looks like her too. She doesn't want a doggie coat too, does she?"

"How about because I said so?" Evan fell back on every parent's desperate last reasoning to get their children to listen. "Besides your mom would be sad if you weren't nice to Granny."

Stephanie crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, "But does Mommy know how mean she is?" Her father failed to answer the question the first time.

"Stephanie, enough. Okay? Both of us are going to be nice to Stella for as long as she is here. We'll do it for Mommy. Do we have a deal?"

"Fiiinnneee! But only for Mommy," the girl rolled her eye dramatically. She would have to talk to Chrissy when her friend got home to discuss dealing with her grandma. In her mind since Evan did not say anything about not getting help from her best friend, it was alright to get assistance from her partner in crime. "And if she doesn't interrupt our time. You have a lot of time to make up for," Stephanie wagged her finger as if scolding her father. "At last count you owe me eighty-nine bedtime stories, sixty-two games of checkers, thirty piggy back rides and four sessions of dress up. Uncle Rodney doesn't look as good in a dress as you do. And none of this is up for negotiation."

Evan's eyes grew wide at the list of demands from his daughter and shook his head in that the few months the child had been on earth she was already sounding like a McKay. He was not even going to touch the bit about the dress. It was an uncanny power of a daughter to get their fathers to do some bizarre things. "Oh, really? We will see about that. The piggy back rides will have to wait." These were the kind of moments the father missed most during the separation.

"Yes, really," Steph nodded emphatically and she scooted onto Evan's lap and hugged him tightly. "Because you are the best Daddy ever."

Stephanie's last line made Evan's year, and he grinned wider than the Cheshire Cat. Still, the idea of playing dress up made the man yearn for a son. But only for a moment until she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his cheek. After that, Evan knew he was wrapped around this little girl's pinky and would do anything to make her happy. Even playing dress up

**To be continued...**


	5. Family Time

A/N: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. RL got in the way and such. Thank you for all the reviews. They are really appreciated. Thank you to Shadow-of-Realm for the beta work. Thank you to Crye4Me for the brainstorming and the use of one of the quotes in this chapter (you know what one). Please don't hesitate to leave a review.

* * *

**Chapter 5- Family Time**

Rodney knew the situation could get bad very quickly and he needed to make a hasty retreat without arousing too much suspicion. If things ended as badly with Katie here as it did on his world there was no telling how she would react to a wedding ring and Christina. "You ready to go?" he asked his only child.

Christina shook her head, "Not done with my ice cream yet."

"You can finish it in the car," Rodney wanted to escape and the quicker the better. He stood up and motioned for Chrissy join him.

"But you never let me eat in the car," Chrissy curled her lip up at the woman who was staring intently at her father.

"Where have you been all these years?" Katie threw her arms around the man who went missing so many years ago. "What happened to you?" For now, she was not going to question the child giving her a dirty look.

Rodney pulled out of the embrace as fast as he could, "This is not what it looks like." It felt odd to have Katie's arms around him again and it was not all bad.

Katie was hurt by the rejection, "Not what it looks like? What is then? Your parents and I have been looking for you ever since you missed your flight after Carson's funeral."

"They are dead..." the confused man paused. If Jennifer's mother was alive in this universe than there was a chance his were alive here. Rodney could not speak directly of his situation in public and knew vagueness was the name of the game, "You remember when my sister visited that one time and we had a visit from Rod."

The woman was thoroughly confused, "Your sister? You said she died when you were eighteen." Katie wondered if the time away done something to his memory or if it was an act to make her think he was crazy.

"Wait! What?" Rodney's mouth dropped in shock. "That's not right." he quickly shut his mouth. The scientist never checked on his family from this universe, having spent all but the last six months in Pegasus had made the situation one of out of sight, out of mind.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Chrissy latched onto her father, frightened of the woman.

"It will be okay, Chrissy," the father picked his daughter up and held her close. Rodney knew the child was upset and his first priority was to calm her down.

That is when Katie saw the ring on his finger and with the girl calling him Daddy it was obvious what he had been up to all these years, Rodney had started a family of his own. "How could you worry us all for all these years? How long have you been here? Lenore, Michael and Sokar will be happy to see you. They missed you."

"I've only been in Colorado for six months." There was only so much he could to say in front of Chrissy as the whole truth had to wait until she was much older. Rodney recognized the names of his birthgivers and the only Sokar he knew of was a long dead System Lord. "Why would a dead snake head miss me?" There just the right amount of sarcasm that made it classic McKay.

"Your brother," the ever-growing annoyed woman grew tired of Rodney pretending not to know anything.

A brother was news to Rodney, "I owe you an explanation for everything. Though not really." It was McKay logic for since I'm not the one who disappeared on you I don't really have to tell you anything. "There are things I cannot say in front on my daughter."

Chrissy pouted, "You shouldn't keep secrets. That is not nice. You don't want a time out when we get home do you?"

"Christina!" Rodney said with a stern warning. "It's not a secret. It's just stuff you are too young to know about."

"Like where babies come from. I know that it's an adult thing to know about, but Lennie told me all about it. So I want to know what secret you won't tell me," the precocious six year old was showing her true McKay colors.

Katie's eyes went wide as Christina challenged her father. The girl might not have any physical resemblance to her father, but every word that came out of her mouth was all Rodney.

"Really now? I think I am going to have a talk with his parents. Lennie should not be telling you things like that." Rodney wished Chrissy would have kept her mouth shut, but she was his daughter and the father knew better.

"I don't see what the big deal is. What is so secret about buying a baby from a hospital? Why would it matter if his parents bought him before they were married? Why did you and Mommy wait two years to buy me? I was the cutest and that is why you picked me, right?" Chrissy became concerned when her father's face became bright red, "Are you sick?" she used the back of her hand to feel her father's forehead.

"No. I'm okay." _Just embarrassed. "_And babies aren't bought in a hospital. I'll tell you more at bedtime." At least the version appropriate for a six year old.

Katie averted her eyes from the family moment that was unfolding. She wondered what secrets Rodney was keeping and thought he did not want to say anything that the child would go back and tell her mother. "Do you really plan on telling me the truth?" She did not want to have her time wasted if he was playing games.

"I'll tell you everything I know, but just not here in public," Rodney wanted to avoid a public fight. It was not as if he could talk about inter-dimensional travel or anything regarding the Stargate program in the middle of a busy street.

"Are you working out of Cheyenne Mountain?" The former botanist asked. They were not far from the SGC and she knew the man could never stay away from the program, which is why his disappearance never made sense.

"I'll answer everything. You should know this isn't the time or place for it. Can you meet me back here in three hours and we can talk then? Things are a little crazy at home. House full of guests. Lots of chaos." Rodney rambled in typical McKay fashion. "If you talk to Lenore and Michael don't tell them about me. I'll explain later."

"Okay fine," Katie agreed. In the back of her mind she doubted that he would really show, but the curious part of her wanted to see what explanation Rodney would come up with.

Rodney returned twenty minutes later than he had promised and was met with the angry glare of Katie.

"I was about to leave," she was genuinely shocked Rodney had shown up. "How nice of you to show up."

"Hey," Rodney snapped at the obvious hostility. "I said things were chaotic at home. That wasn't a lie." The scientist gave a very vague overview on his houseguests, leaving out the part that about them being his in-laws where he came from.

"Oh, I see." Katie sounded skeptical and her inflection showed that. The Rodney she knew would never have put up with all the stuff he claimed he was dealing with. "So what did you tell your wife before you left the house?" the bitterness was apparent.

"Okay I get it you are pissed and you probably have every right to be so, but don't you think eleven years is a little long to be holding onto things? Besides, I'm not the same person that left all those years ago."

The annoyed woman rolled her eyes, "I suppose this is where you tell me how you've changed over the years and you are different now you have a family."

"No. I mean I'm literally not the same person," Rodney lightly tugged the obviously furious woman to a corner where no one could hear them. "What do you know about alternate universes?"

Katie shook her head, clueless as to where he was going with this, "I remember you saying something about opening bridges to other universes for a short time to draw power from but you were never able to get it to work."

"But where I come from I was able to get it to work with help from my sister and we found out it was possible for someone to pass through the bridge," he explained as if it was a well-known fact.

The red head was trying to grasp what he was saying, "So you are saying you are from an alternate universe where your sister is alive?"

Rodney nodded, "Alive, married and raising a know-it-all teenager, last I heard. And where I have no brother and my parents are long dead. How did she die? How did Jeannie die here?" he had been eager to know that answer and if it could happen in his world...that was if Earth still existed there.

"You were home for the Christmas holiday during your first year of university and it was snowing heavily one night and you were supposed to pick her up from dance practice and you forgot because you were working on some experiment and Jeannie tried to walk home and was hit by a truck. The driver could not see her because of the snow." Katie explained and felt bad at how horrified the man before her looked.

Rodney started to snap his fingers as he recalled that holiday well, "I was sick in bed with pneumonia for most of the break and could not leave the apartment for three weeks. Recovered just in time to go back for the next semester and I left my mother's house when I was seventeen. I stayed in contact with Jeannie, but refused to have anything to do with Lenore. My father died when I was fifteen."

"So why are you here? Why did you leave your home?" Katie was still skeptical about Rodney's story.

"The Wraith." It was still difficult for Rodney to talk about that day. "They attacked. I had to do something to give Christina a chance at living. I wasn't sure if the device I created would work. Staying would have meant certain death." He started to choke up as he saw his wife close her eyes for the last time as held Jennifer in his arms. There was still a lot he needed to explain about his work, but that could wait until another time.

"How long ago did you come here?" Katie knew by Rodney's body language that he was telling the truth. She was not a parent, but any good parent would do anything to save their child. There was a pain she had never seen in him before, an overwhelming sadness like he never got over what ever happened during that attack.

"Three years. Chrissy and I stayed on Atlantis until six months ago when I had knee surgery to repair a torn ACL," Rodney shook off the dark thoughts that came when he thought of that day. It was easy for him to just answer that he was a widower when asked about the mother of his daughter. It was difficult if not impossible to talk about the events of that day and most people at the SGC knew his story and knew better to not bring it up.

And now Katie knew where that sadness came from when Rodney said it was only him and his daughter. He had to have lost his wife that day and she had to wonder if it was her that he lost that day. It took only a moment for it to register that Christina looked nothing like her and Rodney did not act shocked to see her. Yet, she had to ask the question. "So you went back after the funeral? Does that mean me and you..." Katie let the question hang a few moments, curious if that was the child she had always longed to have.

Rodney knew the question would eventually be asked, "No. After I went back we...me and her broke up six months later." He was not going give the details of what happened with the almost proposal and subsequent lockdown.

"Oh," she looked away and sighed. Perhaps they weren't meant to be after all. Yet, there was a part of her that wanted to reach out to him and make the hurt go away. It hurt Katie to see him in pain even though this was not the Rodney she knew and it hurt even more to see that he had moved on. She had spent years looking for her lost love and here was a man with his face who had a very different ending to their story. Katie wondered if the search was for nothing and if her Rodney even alive.

"Christina looks exactly like her mother did when she was that age," the man continued just in case there was any lingering doubt about who the child's mother was.

A single parent was not something she ever imagined Rodney to be, but when Katie saw the two together earlier it was obvious that Rodney enjoyed being a parent. She was at a loss for what to say, knowing this was not the same man who hurt her when he disappeared. "How old is your daughter?"

"She's six going on thirty at times," Rodney said with an amused laugh. Sometimes Chrissy left him wondering if he was that bad when he was her age.

Katie wanted to know more about the child's mother. It was an odd feeling but she wanted to know more about this Rodney. There was this pull to him that left her needing more. "Have you had any contact with Chrissy's mother here?"

"Long story..." Rodney was about to say when his phone rang. "Yes, Munchkin...Sorry Evan." The man's eyes grew to triple their size. "THEY DID WHAT?...No it's okay. I'll come right home...Yes, put the phone to her ear... Don't you 'Hi, Daddy' me. You are in serious trouble when I get home, young lady...Don't you give me those fake tears. They aren't going to work this time. You sit on that couch and don't move an inch until I tell you to... No, you can't have any cupcakes. And by no moving I mean you can't talk either. Get on the couch now or you won't see your computer until you are thirty."

Katie stood back and watched the scene unfold, only hearing one side of the conversation. Something big happened to make Rodney scream at a child over the phone. His face was red and a vein on the side of his neck looked like it was ready to burst. "You've got to go." It was not a question. She was disappointed that the conversation was bring cut so short, but it sounded like Rodney had an emergency at home that needed immediate attention.

"Sorry." Rodney nodded. "I have to take care of a situation at home." He wanted to finish the conversation, but there was a certain six year old that needed to be taught a lesson and a five year old probably being given the same lesson at that very moment by her father. "Give me your cell number and I'll call you tomorrow."

"Here," Katie took a pen and piece of paper out of her purse and scribbled her number on it. "I don't expect a call, but it would be nice." as she handed over the scrap of paper, their fingers brushed together and their eyes locked for a moment. It was the kind of rush neither had felt for a long time. A very unexpected rush that left both blushing.

"I'll call," Rodney said in a way that left no doubt he was telling the truth.

* * *

**Back on Atlantis **

Jennifer sat by herself picking at her food. It was eerily quiet despite the constant sound of the city being rebuilt. She was on auto-pilot since her husband left. Their last words cold and stiff and trouble was no stranger in their marriage. It was just another rough patch in their marriage to work through except this time they had a galaxy between them, making it tough to know what was going through the other's mind. "Not even hungry," the bleary-eyed woman tossed the roll to tray and pushed the seat away from the table.

The physician thought she got up too quickly as the sudden and severe case of vertigo caused the tray to fall back to the table. Then the intense abdominal pain bought Jennifer to her knees as tears streamed down her face from the pain. The last time she was in this much pain was the ten hours when she was in labor with Stephanie.

"Dr. Lorne, are you okay?" Teyla asked as she tried to assist her friend. She knew the woman was in too much pain to answer and she radioed for a medical team. "Please try to calm down, Jennifer."

A half hour later Jennifer was resting comfortably with Teyla still holding her hand. Her face was pale and there was still some pain. It was tolerable, but it made Jennifer uncomfortable and restless.

"How is the pain?" Marie asked, having recently completed medical school. The former nurse now doctor was glad to be back on Atlantis despite the grim circumstances.

"Better, but it still hurts. You don't need to give me the lecture about getting enough rest and eating properly. I've given that same speech a hundred times." It was true doctors made the worst patients. "I need more rest. I need to eat better and take more vitamins. That's what the blood tests showed right?"

The Asian physician shook her head. "There was something else in your blood work. I need to do an ultrasound to confirm."

"What is it?" Jennifer's heart started to race. This was not the time for her to be sick. Her throat tightened with worry was the cold gel was applied on her stomach and the small wand passed over her stomach. Jennifer did not need to look at the screen to know what was going on as she heard the unmistakable sound of a fetal heartbeat. "How is that possible?" Of course she knew _how _but the last time she slept her husband was just before the attack. "I would know if I was pregnant."

Marie looked at her friend and boss with concern, "With life as crazy as everything has been here since the attack maybe you missed the signs, but by the look of this I would say you are about sixteen weeks along."

Jennifer was numb at the news. She and Evan never talked about having another child and the timing was all wrong between the rebuilding of the city and her husband's recovery. This wasn't the type of place to bring a new life into. Looking back all the signs were there: missed periods, the weight gain and the exhaustion, but she had passed it all as stress related. "Is... Is everything okay? With the baby, I mean."

Marie went silent as she studied the image on the screen more closely, "The heartbeat is where it should be. He's moving around a bit. I would need to do a further anatomy test to be a hundred percent, but everything looks good so far. I think the stress finally caught up with you and the pain was this little guy's way of saying slow down."

"A son. I'm going to have a son?" Tears streamed down Jennifer's face. "Steph is going to hate that she won't be the baby anymore." She managed a slight laugh through the confusion.

**To be continued…**


	6. Trouble

a/n: Thanks to everyone that is reading and for the adds and kind reviews. Be kind and leave a review. Thanks to Shadows-of-Realm for beta and Crye4Me for the ideas for the girls.

**Chapter 6- Trouble on the Horizon**

Rodney made it home at warp speed as his blood pressure rose to epic proportions. He hit his head against the steering wheel when he saw the police car parked in the driveway. The father felt guilty because in the two hours he was gone everything melted into total chaos. Venturing into a totally unknown situation still scared McKay like nothing else.

The tension in the living room was palpable upon entering, with one police officer who looked like a hybrid of Homer Simpson and Radek Zelenka talking to Reginald and Stella. A second officer, a petite female, was talking to Evan and the two delinquents in training who were pouting on the couch.

"Mr. McKay," the Homer/Radek man approached Rodney. "You are the owner of this house, correct?"

"It's Doctor and yes this is my house," the annoyance of the man using the wrong title and the anger of the situation melded together. "What exactly happened here?" Rodney refused to make eye contact with the Keller's who were clearly shaken. Reginald looked shaken , but Stella was seething and looked like she would pounce and maul anyone who crossed her.

"About an hour ago our station received a call from one of the girls that Mrs. Keller wanted to hurt them and take them away," Officer Berry began to explain. "And they refuse to say which of them placed the call."

"I never did anything like that," Stella was indignant about the embarrassment of almost being arrested. Which she would have had Evan not intervened. "I don't know where they got that idea from."

"Because you are a mean old fart who is ugly and smelly." Stephanie yelled. "You wanted to take me and Chrissy away. You told Grandpa that you wanted some DNA from Chrissy." The young child did not understand what DNA was and was only repeating what she heard. "Why do you need it from her and not me or Daddy?"

That was the first time Evan heard it and a quick look at Rodney said an explosion was imminent. "Steph, you didn't say anything before."

"I just remembered. What is DNA anyway?" Stephanie looked to her uncle for answers, knowing he had answers for everything.

An enraged Rodney thought Stella was very lucky the police were still in the house or someone would be finding the woman's body on the cliffs behind the house. He counted to twenty before unleashing his fury. "You can't let anything go can you? There was never anything between your daughter and me!"

"Stella, how many times do I have to tell you that Jen and I did not meet Rodney until three and half years ago? Can you just drop this?" Evan voice was irritated, but calm. His mother-in-law was severely testing his patience. The woman's favorite hobby seemed to be causing trouble in his marriage and the Chrissy angle seemed to be a new game. The real truth would blow the annoying woman's mind.

The female officer grew concern at the change in dynamics and was not sure if leaving was a good idea. The whole DNA thing made the woman nervous as the living situation sounded a little off. "Is everything settled here? Did this woman hurt these children or did she intend to unlawfully take these children from this home?"

"No. Just overactive imaginations," Evan replied.

"I don't believe so, but I strongly suggest that she spends the duration of her trip in a hotel as Mrs. Keller is no longer welcome in my house," Rodney said through gritted teeth. He was willing to put up with a lot for Stephanie's sake, but the mere thought that Stella wanted to get her hands on Chrissy's DNA was way over the line.

Stella learned for once to keep her mouth shut when she realized the girls had overheard the conversation with her husband in the kitchen over her repeated objections that her granddaughter was left in the care of a single man and there had to be more to the connection between her daughter and Rodney than he was letting on. "Very well. I still am not comfortable with this whole situation."

Evan struggled to keep his temper in check, "I get that your feeling were hurt by our decision, but try to look at it were Jen and I were coming from. We wanted to make things as easy for Stephanie as possible and having her stay with Chrissy is one way. The most important reason Steph stayed with Rodney was that here Jen and I could have regular contact with our daughter. If she was with you or my parents we would not have been able to talk to her. As parents ask yourselves what would you have done then?"

Reginald knew Evan had a valid point and as much as they did not like the choices made by his daughter it was Stephanie that was her parent's top priority. He did not have to like it and they could only accept what was done and no amount of tantrums would change anything. Reginald knew his wife would have a hard time letting go. She always had a hard time letting go since the accident that almost took her life twenty years ago. "You're right. It was better that Stephanie was able to talk to you and Jennifer on a regular basis."

"I don't care what is right. You still should have consulted me on this. Our granddaughter was here for months and we did not know. How many times did she see your parents?" Stella hung onto the anger for as long as she could.

Rodney could see a vein bulging in Evan's neck. The man kept his cool way too much, but that was one in many ways the men differed and McKay was more than happy to take this and give the woman another tongue lashing. "I got this one," a smug smirk formed as he had Stella right where she wanted her. "I think it's time to cut the umbilical cord. Steph saw them once, but they talked once a week." The Lorne grandparents understood the nature of their son's job and understood why Stephanie stayed with Rodney. "Jennifer is a grown woman and is quite capable of making decisions on her own. This is not The World According to Stella. What right do you have to take my daughter's DNA? Does it not compute with you that I didn't know you daughter and son-in-law until after our daughters were toddlers? Or in Stella's self-centered world, she thinks we are lying. So let's take a trip to your crazy world and hypothesize. It's not like Jennifer could hide a pregnancy from her husband and Evan obviously does not believe that Chrissy is his wife's child so why can't you believe it?" Rodney paused and had a crazy idea; presenting Stella with the truth and see what she really thought. "Or here is another possibility. I come from an alternate universe and there I was married to your daughter. Therefore Chrissy is a product of that marriage." It stung to make light of the truth, but Rodney was driven by the need to protect his daughter.

Stella rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. She did not like to be mocked especially after the evening's events. "I don't think I like your sarcasm very much," she did her best to remain dignified.

"You don't like my sarcasm? I don't think I like you trying to steal my child's DNA to fuel some crazy jealously filled delusion you have." Rodney was on a roll and anyone with an ounce of sense knew not to interrupt. "I think it's time you left. You can call in the morning if you want to talk to Evan or Stephanie, but you are not to come anywhere near my daughter and if you lay a hand on my daughter I'll make sure you are arrested so fast, you'd wish that you never came to Colorado." There was much more he wanted to say, but he had to stop short of making threats in front of the cops.

The male officer was ready to run from the crazy situation he had been pulled into, but he knew his partner was too by the book to not leave a volatile situation until it was completely diffused. "I think it's time for you to leave, Mrs. Keller. Why don't you wait outside until your husband gathers your belongs and then we can show you one of the local hotels."

Stella looked like she wanted to say something, but for once common sense reigned and she remained silent. "Very well," she said with a small measure of hostility before following the two officers out to the porch.

"I'm really sorry for everything, Reginald. You are more than welcome to stay if you want. I draw the line when someone tries to mess with my daughter. When I am disrespected like that in my own house I'm going to throw that disrespect right back. I have no I'll feelings toward you and you are welcome in my house anytime." Rodney wanted to treat the man the same as he did his father-in-law, whom he had a very good relationship with. The man before him did not have the assertive personality as the one he knew and with no Stella in his life the man could assert himself more.

Evan had leaned himself against the edge of the sofa, trying to keep his patience in check. "Sir, I apologize for how this visit turned out." He and Jennifer knew how her mother would react to the situation which is why they never told her parents until they started to press for a visit with the only grandchild. They knew it was unfair to have Rodney deal with the situation, but he had the best personality to deal with Stella and figured he already had the experience. "I will call you in the morning so you can see Steph then."

"Thank you, Evan," Reginald said somberly. There were times he was really embarrassed by Stella's behavior and this was one of those times. He knew both sides were right and wrong . If he spoke up in defense of his wife there could be the chance that his daughter would not allow him to see Steph and with Stella's actions this trip there was always a possibility that could happen. If Reginald spoke against his wife there would be severe consequences for that, but staying silent and therefore neutral any repercussions were nominal. "She just hasn't been the same since the accident," the meek man shook his head as he headed up the stairs to pack. It was no real excuse for Stella's behavior, but it became the default explanation for whenever the woman became impossible to deal with. Luckily the luggage had not been unpacked and Reginald was able to grab the bags and make a hasty exit.

"I don't want to see that witch again. I'll see grandpa but not her. She smells like two week old dead fish," Steph stayed determined not to see her grandmother .

Chrissy began to hum _Ding Dong the Witch is Dead _as her friend spoke. She was already in enough trouble as it were and did not care. It was the easiest way to make her position crystal clear.

Neither father was amused at their daughters' behavior and they both showed the great displeasure on their faces.

"Keep it up, Christina and you will not know what fun is until you are forty," Rodney yelled at the top of his lungs. It was very rare that he yelled this loud and it had the desired effect as the young child sat up board straight and her lip quivered. "What would possess you to call the police?"

"Stephanie, what were you thinking? Why did you lie to the police?" it was not in Evan's nature to yell like Rodney. He was disappointed in himself that he did not know what the girls were doing until the police car pulled up to the house.

"We didn't lie. Evil Nana said she was going to take us away. She said lots of mean stuff about you and Uncle Rodney. Uncle Rodney always said that we should call the police with someone tried to take us. Why are we being yelled at for that?" Steph growled at her father. "This is not fair."

"But I've been here the whole time. You should have just told me," Evan pointed out. "You were never in any danger."

"Well..." Chrissy started, not backing down from her attitude. "We wanted her gone and fast. If it wasn't for us she would still be here. Mean people need to be taught a lesson."

"And if we didn't call the police you would have tried to talk with her. That's all you do is talk talk talk and more talk while she just whines and whines. You should be glad we got rid of her," Stephanie sounded way past her five years of age.

Evan and Rodney looked at each other with bewildered looks, confused as where the children came up with some of the stuff that came from their mouths.

"That is not the point," Rodney glared at the girls. "I said to call them if there was not a trusted adult around. You knew what you were doing was wrong and that is why we are mad."

"That makes no sense," Chrissy threw her hands up. Adults were infamous for saying one thing and doing another. "I'm going out," the mouthy child did not want to be yelled at for doing something right. In the child's mind she started to think that her father wanted her to be taken by the evil woman.

"Me too," Steph leapt off the couch as well. "I'm not living with that bitch." It did not matter that she had used a bad word because she wanted her father to know how much she did not want to be near her grandmother.

Both girls marched toward the closest to grab their jackets.

"Get back here right now Stephanie. You take one more step and you'll be sorry," Evan truly yelled for the first time all evening. Dealing with the Wraith was easier than dealing with a headstrong five year old any day.

"Get back here now, Christina Stella McKay," Rodney purposely used her middle name, knowing the child had a new hatred for it.

"Don't call me that," Chrissy was on the verge of a tantrum worthy of being a McKay. "Don't call me that, Meredith," she balled up her fists and stomped her feet, steam almost coming from her beat red face.

"Upstairs to bed now," Rodney boomed, pointing upstairs.

"Make me," the younger McKay challenged as she threw on the coat upside down with the hood hanging down.

"Make you?" It was clearly the wrong line to use at the moment. Rodney fought to keep a straight face at the funny scene before him.

"What is so funny?" Chrissy ground her foot into the rug. She was not amused as her father wanted to laugh at her.

"Are you making yourself a human pooper-scooper with that coat?" The father slightly snickered at his daughter.

Christina threw her coat on the floor and stomped over to her father, hands squarely on her hips and puffed out her chest. "Don't laugh at me. You are a mean, mean Daddy," she poked her tiny finger into Rodney's stomach as hard as she could.

"And you are in a whole world of trouble, little girl," Rodney lifted the defiant child up to eye level. "You are going to bed now and you aren't going to your room where you have all your toys and games. I'm putting you to bed in my room," the defeated look on Christina's face said it was a punishment well chosen. Christina knew he had interesting toys in his room, but they were locked up with no hope of getting her small hands on them.

"That's no fair. Your room is boring there is nothing to do," Chrissy thought the fake tears would make the man change his mind.

"That is the point of being punished. The tears are not going to work this time. And no pouting either. You can't say or do whatever you want. There are consequences for your actions," Rodney was going to stick to his guns this time and let the punishment stick. He refused to give into a pouting, manipulative child like he had done so many times before.

* * *

Evan and Stephanie watched as Rodney carried a wailing Christina up the stairs. When they were out of sight Evan turned to his daughter, "Do you have anything to add?"

Steph shook her head very timidly, "No, Daddy. I love you and I'm sorry for calling the police on Nana even if we thought she wanted to hurt Chrissy and I." the younger girl had her father's calm personality and she knew when to stop pushing buttons, a lesson Chrissy constantly failed to learn.

"You still are getting punished, Steph. No cartoons, video games or computer for a week and you will pick five of your toys to donate them to children who don't have any toys." Evan thought it was a fair punishment. "Go upstairs and get ready for bed."

"Can I stay with you tonight?" The young child had missed so much time with her father that she did not want to miss any more.

"As long as you go get your pjs on now you can stay with me. You will read a book until I am ready for bed and we can further discuss your punishment. Do we have a deal?" Evan felt that sometimes dealing with his child was not unlike negotiating with trading partners in the Pegasus Galaxy.

"Yes, Daddy," Stephanie kissed her father on the cheek. "We just have to get Mommy home and we can be a whole family again. Then we can work on getting Uncle Rodney a wife and Chrissy a Mommy. Some kids in her class make fun of Chrissy for not having a mom. She says it doesn't bother her, but it does." In a flash the child ran upstairs and returned changed for bed. "Please don't be too long." Stephanie begged her father.

* * *

Ten minutes later the children were secure in the rooms they were going to spend the night in and the adults were sitting on the deck off the back of the house, each with a well-deserved bottle of beer.

Rodney nursed his bottle of beer close, "It's about time this day is over. I would like to put everything behind me that happened today. Well... almost everything." The tired scientist let a hint of a smirk begin to show.

"Are you talking about running into Katie?" Evan had yet to see this kind of smirk on Rodney's face in three years.

"Maybe. I know it's odd considering how I ended things with the Katie I knew and she hasn't given up trying to find her Rodney that disappeared. I don't know how to explain it. There was something there. A kind of spark," Rodney caught himself before he stared to ramble too much.

"Did you make plans to see her again?"

"I plan on calling her tomorrow. I was going to ask her out for coffee when you called." The Canadian's voice faltered, feeling suddenly uncomfortable to be talking about this topic. A change in topic was needed. "Has Stella always been like this?"

An emphatic nod was the first response. "How did you put up Stella where you came from?" Evan took a slow sip from the cold bottle, savoring the robust taste. With the chaos in Atlantis and being confined to the infirmary, having the occasional beer became extinct.

"Simple. I didn't. She died in a car accident when Jennifer was fourteen. Though I think if she was around the two of us might have killed each other by now. I was ready to kill her after a few hours. You are a brave man for putting up with her this long." Rodney sighed as he looked over out at the mountain. The buried longing for his old life started to surface.

"Living in another galaxy helps somewhat," Lorne shook his head, slightly jealous that Rodney never had Stella interfering in his marriage.

"Her tentacles reached all the way to Atlantis? Oh, wow," the scientist shook his head. Rodney got very quiet suddenly a look of contemplation on his face. "Though seeing Reginald and Katie has me thinking about home. I wonder what my family was told happened to me and Chrissy. We would have been the only bodies they could not be found. Do they think we were killed in the attack as well or do they think there is a chance that we are alive and just lost, unable to get home?"

Evan had no idea how to respond to the questions. He really never thought on the matter, but imagined it had to be something Rodney thought about often. "Can you go home? I mean is it possible?"

Rodney nodded, "It's possible. The device I used is still functional. I never really thought of returning because of Chrissy. At the moment I left the Wraith were about to gain control of the city. Once they did that, we know Earth would be their next target. It would be only a matter of time before the Wraith took over."

"But what if the Wraith didn't make it to Earth?" It was something that always puzzled Evan, but never thought to bring it up.

"I've thought about it, but it's not a chance I wanted to take. The only reason I came here was to give Chrissy a chance to live. If I were to return home and find that the Wraith have conquered Earth I might not be able to get back. I refuse to make Chrissy an orphan. I can't do that to her." Rodney defended his position vehemently. His daughter was the only reason he tried the crazy plan three years ago. There risk was too great to attempt going home.

"What about sending a message? In case some survived and wondered what happened to you and Chrissy. Let them know you two are safe and happy. Is something like that possible with that device?"

Rodney started to ponder the idea. He had never thought of remodulating the device to send a message, be it audio, video or text. "It could. I would have to rework some things. Maybe tie some power through the gate so they can relieve the message through their gate. It might take a week or so but I think it can be done." In a flash Rodney leapt up and started for inside. "I'm going to start on it now. Thanks for the idea."

Evan shook his head and laughed with amusement. "Some things never change." He knew once the scientist had an idea in his head he had to work on it right away and not stop until completion.

* * *

Rodney nearly ran to his room, intent on starting right away. Things don't always go as planned and it looked like he would be doing some yelling again. "CHRISTINA MCKAY! What do you think you are doing?" the father pulled his iPad3 from his daughter's hand. The tablet had been stored under his boxers in the top drawer of his dresser. It was not something Chrissy would have stumbled upon, but she purposely searched for it. The app she had been trying access luckily was password protected and something not for the eyes of a child.

"I was bored," Chrissy scowled as her entertainment was snatched away. "Why can't I get into the bunny game?"

"I gave you some books to read. Why did you take this out? It was put away in my private place and it's not a game. It's something for adults. You just added time onto your punishment for this. Now, into bed. NOW!" It would have been much worse had the child accessed the Playboy app. Explaining naked women to a six year old was a conversation that needed to wait at least another twenty years in his opinion.

"Ugh. Fine," Christina dramatically threw herself onto the bed. "Why so cranky?"

Rodney had no more fight in him, "Because you won't listen." He pulled a clean t-shirt and sweat pants from his closet and disappeared into the bathroom to cleaned up and got changed for bed. When he returned to the bedroom, the father saw that his daughter had monopolized most of the free space on the bed. "Move over, bed hog."

Chrissy complied but still put on a show, "I love you, Daddy. Goodnight." She placed a huge wet kiss on her father's cheek.

He was still mad at the antics Chrissy pulled tonight, but it did not take away from his love for her. "Love you too, pumpkin. Now sleep," Rodney reached over and shut off the lights in the room.

* * *

Evan slowly made his way to the first floor room set up for him. He could hear Rodney yelling and hoped that Steph had done as he asked and he would not have to yell too. Walking was a bit easier with the walker Rodney had loaned him and he only hoped his recovery would progress at a faster rate than it did when he was cooped up on Atlantis.

"I was getting tired. I wanted to wait to you came back," Steph tried to hide her yawn behind her wide smile when her wide eyes saw her father come in.

The words and facial expressions almost bought tears to the wounded soldier's eyes. Evan did not realize until this moment how much he truly missed Steph during their separation. It was the small simple moments that he had taken for granted and made him wonder how he survived being away so long. "You can go to sleep now, peanut."

"Can you tell me a story first?"

"Which one?" Lorne took great care in getting into bed. He knew which story it would be, the same one he told almost every night for a year.

"Princess and the Pea," Steph snuggled up to her father. Nothing beat the stories told by him even when Rodney uses funny voices in his _story reenactments_ as he liked to call them.

Evan did not get through half the story when Stephanie fell asleep. "Goodnight, my angel," he pushed back the child's dark hair that fell in front of her face. For the first time in months he let slumber claim him with a smile on his face. The innocent, pure unconditional love a child had amazing healing properties.

* * *

**To be continued…. Next up. Jennifer comes home.**

**A/N: I know I might have taken some liberties with the police stuff, but I had to do it to have the chapter go where I needed it to. And yes as my Beta pointed out, asking why Rodney had an Ipad3 it's because this takes place several years in the future. Thanks again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	7. A New Morning

A/N: Thanks for all the adds and favorites, to Shadows-of-Realm for the beta and to Crye4Me for the brainstorming.

* * *

**Chapter 7- A New Morning**

Rodney did not sleep well as every hour on the hour he would be woken up by a sleeping, kicking child better known as Christina McKay and it was only fitting that when he woke up there was a small foot in his face. A painful reminder why the child always slept in her own bed. The perfect payback was literally staring him in the face: to tickle Chrissy on the bottom of her foot.

The father made a face when the sleeping terror did not move and jumped when his cell phone rang. "Hello," Rodney whispered as he picked up the phone. Chrissy was quite the master cranky pants if she woke up too early.

"Hi, Rodney. Sorry is this a bad time?" Katie asked, hearing that he was trying to whisper.

"No. It's fine. Chrissy is still sleeping." He tried to be as quiet as possible and went to the bathroom to continue the phone call. Hearing the red head's voice bought a smile to the widower's face.

"I can call back."

"No. It really is okay. I'm sorry about leaving abruptly last night. There was a bit of an emergency here last night," he said all in one breath.

"That's why I was calling. Is everything okay?" Katie knew it involved his daughter and it sounded serious from Rodney's end of the conversation.

"Everything is fine now. Chrissy and Steph decided to call the police on Steph's grandmother. The girls thought they were trying to take them away and other stuff." Stuff Rodney did not want to get into just yet. "Just an overactive imagination thrown in with the girls taking after me."

Katie laughed hesitantly, "Are you free for breakfast? I thought we could finish our conversation from last night." She felt her cheeks flush like they haven't in years. This Rodney was nothing like the one she still pined for and in a few ways he was the same man. Getting married and having a child made him a better man, but in the brief time they had talked it was still clear he had some deep scars from losing everything except his daughter.

"It's a date...umm...I. Just yeah. There is this little place a couple blocks from where we were last night and they make the best omelets." Rodney felt odd bubbles in his stomach. He had closed himself off to any possibility of giving love another chance for too long and there was no reason to live a celibate life.

"I think I know the place. When do you want to meet?" Katie blushed at his stammering. Could this really be considered a date? If both played it right, it could be their first.

"Give me about an hour and half. I need to make breakfast for the girls and Evan." Rodney did not think it would be a problem to leave the girls with the not so mobile man as long as he left them prepared for the time he would be gone.

"I'll see you then."

"I look forward to it." Rodney hung up the phone and met the icy glare of his only offspring. "What? Don't look at me like that. You are still in plenty of trouble from yesterday. Now go to your room and get dressed." When he got home Rodney would have to have a serious talk with Chrissy about boundaries.

* * *

Jennifer did not want anyone to know she was coming home, as she had to figure out how to tell her husband that she was pregnant. It was not like they were trying for a second child and things have been strained in their marriage ever since the attack and she could only hope that being away from Atlantis would help heal their damaged relationship.

Upon her arrival at the SGC, Jennifer was examined by the staff OBGYN who agreed with Marie's suggestion of staying as calm as possible for the remainder of her pregnancy, which meant not working until after she gave birth. She would not be confined to bed for the next five months, but to remain off her feet as much as possible.

Chuck was the one who offered to drive Jennifer to Rodney's house, hoping the physicist would not mind another house guest for an extended period of time. When she saw the driveway empty it bought the pregnant woman a little measure of relief that she and Evan could have a little privacy to talk. "Thank you for the ride, Chuck." Those were the one only words spoken during the ride unless you counted Chuck singing Lady Gaga songs at the top of his lungs.

"You're welcome ma'am," Chuck watched as Jennifer made the way to the door.

Jennifer knocker on the door, hoping at least someone was home. It only took a few seconds to hear two sets of feet running toward the door.

"Mommy."

"Aunt Jen."

The house was a lot quieter than Jennifer expected and the only sign of other adult life she saw in the house was her very confused looking husband. She tried to move into the house but the two children attached to her legs stopped her from moving far. "Hey," her voice was soft and tired as she looked at Evan.

"Hey," Evan responded. He wanted to ask what she was doing here, but that was best left for when the girls were not around. "I'd get up, but you know..."

"I do," Jennifer responded with a sad smile as she placed a kiss a top each of the girl's heads. "Where is everyone else?" She looked around and it was obvious that they were the only ones in the house and the looks on the children's face told another story.

"Rodney is on a date." Evan said with an amused smirk. Katie was an interesting choice for a first date since losing his wife.

"A date? This early?" Jennifer never expected her friend to date as he was so focused on his daughter and with the tragic way he lost his wife that he would never date again.

Evan nodded, dismissing the shocked look on his wife's face. Even though he knew there would never be anything between the two, it did not stop him from feeling like there was something at times. "And with Katie Brown too." The original Rodney had been dating the botanist at the time of his disappearance and this one broke up with his Katie sometime after he returned from the funeral. He was also avoiding the enviable question about Reggie and Stella.

"What about my parents? What happened?"

"Rodney kicked your mother out. It's a long story. Very long story. Girls, go up to Chrissy's room and read for a while. No TV for either of you. Both of you are still punished." Evan didn't want to recount the story in front of the girls especially the DNA issue.

Jennifer groaned, knowing she was not going to like the story.

"But Daddy," Stephanie whined. It was not fair that it was months she had seen her mom and she was already being banished. "Adult time sucks," she stomped her foot.

"Stephanie!" Both parents yelled simultaneously.

"Sweetie, I have some things I need to talk to your dad about. Give us a little time and then I can be all yours. Okay?" Jennifer did not want to deal with a temper tantrum so soon.

"How long?" Steph knew she was tempting an extension of her punishment. This was one of the times being a kid was not fun. When all the interesting things not meant for little ears were talked about.

"Half an hour."

"Okay fine," Steph stomped up the stairs in dramatic fashion behind Chrissy.

"Hey," Jennifer slowly approached her husband, unsure of what to say. This was totally the wrong time for her to be pregnant, but this little boy could be just the thing to get their marriage back on track.

"Hey," Evan replied. "I didn't know you were coming. How come you didn't say anything?" It was not meant to sound accusatory, but Jen's appearance was a little unsettling.

"It was sudden and I had some things to think on the ride from the SGC. Chuck dropped me off," the nervous woman joined her husband on the couch. Jennifer reached out for his hand, hoping that she would not lose the nerve.

"What is it Jen?" Evan gave her hand a slight squeeze. "Everything okay?" he knew in the general scheme of things that life was not okay, but something serious had to be up for her to leave control of Atlantis.

It was just easier to break the news to him. "I'm pregnant, Ev. Marie said I need to take it easy for the rest of my pregnancy and there was no way I was going to get that on Atlantis."

"What?" The news floored Evan. This was not something he had expected and it had been a long time and many questions flooded his mind and most of them not all good.

Jennifer knew by the look on her husband's face that he was wondering if the baby was his. The look caused tears to pour forth like a torrential rain. Even with as bad as thing were it hurt to have him think that. "We are going to have a son. With as crazy as everything has been the last couple of months I passed all the signs off as stress. Looking back I should have known it wasn't the stress."

"I'm sorry," he did not mean to make his wife cry. Evan had no idea how they got to where he would question Jennifer's fidelity. The idea of having a son was something he had always dreamed of. Evan loved his daughter to bits and would always be one of the best things to ever happen to him, but there was something special about the bond between father and son. "Come here," he pulled Jen into his arms.

"I know things have been rough between us for a while, but I have never ever been unfaithful," Jennifer pushed herself away from her husband. "How could you even suggest that?"

Evan's mouth floundered for a response that would not cause Jennifer to get any angrier with him. "I just thought... I mean with Steph you knew almost right away and it's been about four months since we... you know." His face flushed. Even after all the years of marriage he was embarrassed to mention the word sex outside of the bedroom. It was a byproduct of his upbringing.

"With Steph life was calm even by Atlantis standards. You know we can't say that about the last four months. I just thought the stress was getting to me. It's not like we were trying for a second child so I had no reason to think I was pregnant." For the first time in many years Jennifer could not read Evan's expression. She did not know how he felt about becoming a father again. "What are you thinking?"

Evan paused and scratched the stubble on his chin. He was excited about having another child, but he was worried about what kind of parent he could be to a newborn in his condition. It was different with Steph because she understood he was sick and she tried to help, but the same could not be said for a baby. After a long minute, a smile finally cracked his stoic face, "That it's about time something good happened to this family. You know for sure it's a boy?"

Jennifer finished drying her tears and nodded, "Marie confirmed with an ultrasound yesterday."

"This could be the fresh start that we need," Evan spoke what he knew to be on both their minds. Perhaps being away from the stresses of Atlantis would give them the time and quiet they needed to repair their relationship...just as long as Stella minded her own business. One could pray for that small almost impossible miracle.

"I hope so." Some of the tension washed away at seeing the first genuine smile of Evan's face in as long as she could remember. Jennifer moved into her husband's arms and finally felt at home. After the long emotional and physical separation it felt like she never left.

"What did she do that Rodney threw her out of the house?" Jennifer spoke up after several minutes of getting reacquainted with her husband. "Does it have to do with why the girls are punished?"

Evan tried not to laugh at the situation, but it was funny and not funny at the same time. "The girls called the police and tried to have Stella arrested. They thought Stella wanted to take them away and as they said she was mean to me and Rodney who then took a big issue with Stella wanting to take Chrissy's DNA."

"Please tell me you are joking." The news greatly disturbed the woman.

"Afraid not. It was quite the scene here last night. I think Stella has met her match in Rodney. He was not taking any of her garbage. You should have seen it her face...it was priceless. I don't think anyone has talked to her that way."

"I don't want a brother!" Stephanie yelled and stomped from the top of the stairs. "I don't want to share with anyone. I hate you." The temperamental child slammed Christina's bedroom door.

**To be continued…**


End file.
